The defendant appealed against his conviction of the attempted theft of his stake from a bookmaker at a greyhound racetrack. The dog which the appellant had backed was not doing well. During the race the appellant climbed on to a fence in front of the dogs and waved his hands. He was attempting to distract them. His hope and intention was that the stewards would declare ‘no race’ because of his intervention. If a race was so declared, then bookmakers would be obliged to repay the stakes of those who had bet on the race. In that way he hoped to recover the stake which he would otherwise have lost.
Held: His appeal succeeded. The court rejected the ‘Rubicon’ test and stated that the offence in section 1(1) of the 1981 Act envisaged a ‘midway course’ ie a person can be said to have attempted an offence when he ’embarks on the crime proper’. He had not gone as far as attempting to steal his stake from the bookmaker. He had only done an act preparatory to the offence.
Lord Lane said: ‘It seems to us the words of the 1981 Act seek to steer a midway course. They do not provide, as they might have done, that the Eagleton test [in R v Eagleton [1843-60] All ER Rep 363, [1854] EngR 35 ] . . is to be followed or that, as Lord Diplock suggested, the defendant must have reached a point from which it was impossible for him to retreat before the actus reus is proved.
On the other hand the words give perhaps as clear a guidance as is possible in the circumstances on the point of time at which [Mr Justice] Stephen’s series of acts begins. It begins, in our view, when the merely preparatory acts come to an end and the defendant embarks on the crime proper. When that is will depend on the facts in any particular case.’ and ‘An attempt to commit a crime is an act done with intent to commit that crime, and forming part of a series of acts which would constitute its actual commission if it were not interrupted.’
Judges:
Lord Lane CJ
Citations:
[1990] 3 All ER 882
Statutes:
Criminal Attempts Act 1981 1(1)
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v John Eagleton (No 1) 1854
. .
Cited by:
Cited – Mason v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 15-Jul-2009
The defendant appealed against his conviction for attempting to drive after consuming excess alcohol. On reporting to the police that as he opened the door of his car, he had been threatened with a knife, and his car taken, it was suspected he had . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Crime
Updated: 20 May 2022; Ref: scu.384378